Life, according to TV Nadia.. and Dr Seuss
The Loose Women panellist talks to Liz Connor about positivity, poo and her unlikely source of inspiration
LOOSE Women star Nadia Sawalha has the recipe for keeping healthy on the outside and the inside - meditation, exercise, drinking lots of water and laughing.
The 55-year-old mum of two laughs a lot with other panellists on the daytime show. But she’s also become one of the UK’s best-loved presenters thanks to her honesty and candour, having opened up to the nation about everything from her struggles with the menopause to losing her hair and experiencing a miscarriage. Nadia, who became famous as an actress playing Annie Palmer in EastEnders, recognises the importance of keeping herself well. She said: “On a good day, I meditate, exercise, eat well, drink lots of water and herbal teas, and I laugh a lot. I’m kind to my husband and I’m engaged and present with my children.
“On a bad day, it’s the complete opposite – and I pay dearly for it.”
Nadia, who has a strained relationship with her Absolutely Fabulous star sister Julia, has been married twice. She and TV producer hubby Mark Adderley live in London with their daughters Maddie, 17, and Kiki-Bee, 12.
She regards them as her biggest achievement – “my marriage and the deeply kind, funny, thoughtful daughters we’ve brought up together.”
She, on the other hand is a bit of a handful – so she says. Asked to describe herself, Nadia said: “A bloody nightmare.”
But as Loose Women shows, a problem shared is a problem halved. Nadia said: “I absolutely believe that we all have to work on being the kindest that we can be. If you surround yourself with kind people you can get through anything.”
And Nadia has had some tough times, including the suicide of her first husband in 1997 who took his life after they’d split.
She gets through the hardest times with her “ability to see pinholes of light even in the darkest of times. My cup is always half full. My philosophy in life is to get on with getting on and always see the positive.”
Last year, her feud with Julia was reignited when the Ab Fab actress accused Nadia of “destroying” their family and crying “fake tears for attention”. It stemmed over the sisters clashing over Julia’s then-boyfriend Alan Davies, who Nadia branded a “miserable git” for complaining his photo had been used in a magazine article for her wedding.
Nadia said: “I would love to say I don’t have regrets, but then I would have to regret lying. I don’t dwell on regrets.”
Asked what she would tell her younger self, she said: “I’d tell myself to slow down and that those that mind don’t matter and those that matter don’t mind. For years, I thought this was from Gandhi but it turns out it’s a Dr Seuss quote.”
There are challenges, especially the “negative voices” in her head, but food and drink are the driving forces for keeping her healthy.
She insisted: “I eat good home cooked food. I drink half the amount of alcohol I actually want to and I don’t smoke even though I love smoking.
“I’ve had the same homeopath since I was aged 18. I’ll have a session every four weeks, where I share the most minute details of my physical and emotional health – from how many poos I do a week to how many times I’ve cried.
“I am an absolute believer in complementary medicine. I also go to an osteopath every couple of months as a preventative measure. I try and try to love yoga and Pilates but I just can’t.”
● Nadia is an ambassador for The Big Lunch and is backing their #ThereForMe Twitter campaign to thank people who have been a support.